NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Toronto Maple Leafs No. 1 draft pick Gavin McKenna has already been on the ice with the team as it held its development camp this week, but the highly touted rookie will have to make a big change this fall.
His number.
Playing for the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers and then again at Penn State last season, McKenna wore No. 72.
THE HIGHEST PLAYER EVER SELECTED IN THE NHL WENT OUT IN HIS DEBUT WITH THE SAN JOSE SHARKS
Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna has revealed he will choose a new number for his rookie campaign. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
The expectation was that McKenna would wear No. 72 with the Maple Leafs, and he did this week at development camp. Plenty of fans have also already ordered No. 72 jerseys with his name on the back.
On most rosters, No. 72 is unique enough that he wouldn’t have a problem wearing it. However, on July 1, the Leafs signed two-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who has worn No. 72 for most of his career, except during his first two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, when he wore No. 35.
So some wondered how this would work. Would the Leafs want their new franchise player to get his pick of the draft, or would they defer to a two-time Vezina winner?
FLYERS MAKE GREAT DEAL FOR DUCKS STAR LEO CARLSSON IN BLOCKBUSTER NHL MOVE
Gavin McKenna wore No. 72 in juniors, as well as last season at Penn State. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
Well, it turns out that McKenna will be the one switching numbers, and he’s switching to No. 92 this season.
McKenna had to get creative here because the obvious number of changes was a no-go in Toronto. Adding 7 and 2 would be 9, but it was retired in honor of Charlie Conacher and Ted Kennedy.
Another option would have been to reverse the numbers and go with No. 27, but that was retired in honor of Frank Mahovlich and Darryl Sittler.
ALEX OVECHKIN SIGNS ONE-YEAR DEAL TO RETURN FOR ANOTHER NHL SEASON WITH BIG CITIES
So that’s 92.
But McKenna reached out to one of the three former players to wear the number, Jeff O’Neill, to ask if he was comfortable with him wearing it.
It’s fair to say he was down with the idea.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
McKenna will be a key part of a Maple Leafs team looking to bounce back from a nightmare 2025-26 campaign in which they finished last in the Atlantic Division.
